The Philippine Army scooped five gold medals in boxing at the 2023 ROTC Games National Championships held at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex on Thursday, October 26.

With all five matches being disputed by Army fighters, it was a battle of who came in more prepared to deliver the goods for their squads.

Florence Sumpay, a student of Polytechnic University of the Philippines, took centerstage with a second-round referee-stopped-contest over Rodrigo Lumogda to win the men’s featherweight 57kg gold medal.

Sumpay was actually under the tutelage of coaches Rennel Flechero, as well as Joan Tipon, a former national team member and a 2006 Doha Asian Games gold medalist.

“Masaya akong makita yung mga tinuturuan ko, nananalo. Masarap yung feeling na maibahagi yung mga natutunan ko nung nasa national team pa ako,” said Tipon, who retired from the sport in 2012 to focus on coaching.

Tina Pais, a 20-year-old University of Baguio student, also pounced on her rival to win the women’s bantam 51-54kg over Edezza Lyne Laja.

“Nagpapasalamat ako na naipanalo ko yung laban ko. Kung papalarin, gusto kong maging member ng national team,” said Pais, who was also a 2018 Batang Pinoy standout.

Kristine Grace Marquez, meanwhile, hardly broke a sweat in bagging the women’s feather 54-57kg with a referee-stopped-contest triumph over Riona Segundo right on the opening round.

It was the same case for Alfred Deslate in the men’s bantam 51-54kg where he claimed the gold via an RSC in the third round over Mark Paul Fernandez, while Joel Efondo ruled the men’s fly 48-51kg over Vince Lomboy on points.

At the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, Western Institute of Technology (WIT) and University of Makati currently lead their respective brackets in 3×3 basketball with identical 3-0 win-loss records.

WIT’s triumphs came at the expense of Our Lady of Lourdes Technological College, 19-17; Tanauan Institute Inc., 20-15; and University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, 21-18.

UMak, meanwhile, prevailed over University of Cagayan Valley, 20-15; Cavite State University, 22-15; and Our Lady of Triumph Institute of Technology-Pagadian, 21-13.